Chances Are
by Gedia Kacela
Summary: “Chances are, love, that Voldemort will be defeated before Halloween.” James informs his young wife that Voldemort's death is inevitable, while their own lives are about to end.


Chances Are  
  
Disclaimer: It all belongs to JKR, lucky girl.  
  
Author's Note: I just started typing... this came out. A Lily vignette for the most part, with dashes of James and Snape thrown in for good measure.  
  
***  
  
"Chances are, love, that Voldemort will be defeated before Halloween."  
  
James leaned back, rocking the chair back onto two legs. Lily, his young wife of one year, frowned and swatted at him with the dishcloth. "Stop that, James Potter, before you break it! We can't afford new furniture, you know." Once he had returned the chair to its usual position, she allowed her cherry lips to curve into a smile. "And that's wonderful news. Did Albus send an owl?"  
  
Strange, how it still felt odd to speak their former headmaster's first name. They had only been out of Hogwarts one year, after all. The respectful 'Professor' still leapt in her throat whenever she addressed him. She wondered if it was the same for James.  
  
"This morning, before you got up." He sipped his coffee and fought a grimace. A year of marriage had done nothing for her skills at making coffee. But he swallowed the mixture anyway before grinning at her. She leaned against the counter, her right hand absently running across her expanding stomach. "How's our boy doing?"  
  
She smirked. "And how are you so sure you're getting the boy you've dreamed of?"  
  
"My mother told me that if your feet swell before the fifth month, than it's a boy. And yours did." He pointed at her bare feet, which were most certainly swollen, and had been for three months.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Your mother is full of it, my dear. Besides, I've already decorated her room. And it's pink."  
  
James tapped his wand against the tabletop. "Well, that's where these little wooden sticks come in handy. You see, there's this thing called magic..." He jumped away as she swung the dishtowel at him again, giggling while trying to look angry. She never quite succeeded at that. He set his mug on the counter and bent to place a kiss on her cheek. "I've got to go talk to Albus today. Have any plans?"  
  
"Shopping for the baby."   
  
"I swear, Lily, that child is going to be the most spoiled creature on the planet by the time he's four."   
  
"Would you have it any other way?" She licked her finger and attempted to smooth one of his perpetually messy locks, to no avail. To worsen the affect, James ran his hand through his hair, making his hair stand even more on end. "Honestly, James, what do people say at work..."  
  
He knelt in front of her and pressed his lips against her bulging stomach. "They say I'm the luckiest man on Earth."  
  
She smiled down at him, feeling the blush rise to her cheeks. "Go on, you, or they'll be saying you're the latest man on Earth."  
  
Glancing at his watch, he exclaimed, "Great Merlin, you're right!" He grabbed his cloak from where it hung on the wall and kissed her quickly. "Love you."  
  
"Love you too," she called after him.  
  
***  
  
The stores were crowded today, she noted, walking along the almost equally-packed streets. The whole of the wizarding world seemed out en force. She was almost to Flying Tots (a name that made her cringe), when she spotted a familiar form slinking through the streets. "Severus!" she called, waving to him.  
  
The man turned, but his customary scowl didn't seem to affect her. After seven years of it, she figured herself immune. He stopped and crossed his arms across his black-clad chest, waiting for her. She smiled up at him. He had always towered over her. "Evans... or, should I say, Potter."  
  
She held up her left hand to display the wedding band on her fourth finger. "I don't remember seeing you at the party, Severus."  
  
His eyebrow raised skeptically. "Must have misplaced the invitation." He glanced down at her stomach. "You've changed, Potter."  
  
"Haven't I though? She's due in a month."  
  
"Just in time for Halloween," he remarked dryly.  
  
"I can only hope." Rocking back on her heels, she adjusted her bags. "Never thought of you as one to shop, Severus."  
  
"Unfortunately, I was the only one available to go. Lucius was busy with Narcissa and asked me to pick up a few things for Draco."  
  
A smile swept over her face. "Oh, she had her baby? I'm so glad... how is he?"  
  
The corner of Snape's mouth turned up in amusement ever so slightly. "Just like his father, I'm afraid." He shifted uncomfortably. Small talk was certainly not his strong point. All he wanted to do was to return to Malfoy Manor. However... he could not pass up a chance to question the redheaded Potter. The Lord would surely punish him if he knew he had walked away from the opportunity. "How is the other Potter, by the way?"  
  
"Perfectly fine. He had to go into work early."  
  
"He works with Albus, I suppose."  
  
"Yes." She refrained from saying more, glancing at the shop windows.  
  
"Still the foolish child he was at Hogwarts, I suppose."  
  
She returned her gaze to him, her green eyes a bit harder than before. "Careful, Severus." He made no attempt to apologize.  
  
"Some things never change, I suppose."  
  
Her brow furrowed slightly. What was he getting at? She wondered sometimes how they had been friends at school. Hadn't he been different then? Perhaps not. Perhaps he was right... some things never changed. "Are you expected back soon?"  
  
The smirk returned to his face. "So quick to get rid of me? I remember second year. You were unpopular then, remember, and James hardly took notice of you. You didn't seem to mind talking to a Slytherin then."  
  
"Times change."  
  
"So do people," he responded silkily.  
  
She glared hard at him. "And loyalties? Do those change as well?"  
  
His tongue ran over his lips carefully before he spoke. "Only for the weak." He turned away with one last warning. "Be careful, Potter, or your brat might not save the world as you intended."  
  
Her hand was on her wand in an instant, ready to hex him with the first curse that came to her lips, but he had already disappeared in the crowd. She turned around, searching for a sign of the tall, slim, dark-haired wizard, but he was nowhere to be seen. Fuming and worried, she entered the store, her hand splayed protectively across her stomach.  
  
From across the street, Severus Snape watched her go into the building, his black eyes trained on her fiery tresses. It had been... amusing, to say the least, to watch her angry attempts to get back at him, not knowing that he had used a Glamour Spell to momentarily change his appearance.  
  
He reached up to brush aside lank strands of hair before striding purposefully down the street. He had much to tell the Dark Lord.  
  
He couldn't resist another glance over his shoulder, hoping for one more glimpse of the pretty young woman. He glared at the front of the store. She had made a mistake by marrying Potter, that hopeless brat with an ego the size of London. The idiot, in his quest to take on Voldemort, would get himself and his family killed. They would all three be dead by Halloween, if Voldemort's plans went smoothly. The wizarding world would be seeing no more of the valiant Potter family.   
  
Chances are, he would not be seeing Lily Potter again. But hopefully, hopefully, he would be seeing James in hell.   
  
And he was quite looking forward to the meeting.  
  
END. 


End file.
